


Orphan

by TheDragonQueen



Category: Sly Cooper (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Wordcount: Over 1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-19 13:30:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3611838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDragonQueen/pseuds/TheDragonQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a short Connor Cooper fic</p>
            </blockquote>





	Orphan

They’d been found.  Months of planning, living years hidden away in plain sight.  Fake identities, forged with meticulous care.  He’d even gone so far as to erase all public records of himself and his family.  As far as the authorities were concerned, the only known Cooper thief had vanished three years ago without a trace.  And yet, they’d still managed to find him.  Connor had caught word of the group’s success in escaping from prison just a couple of years ago from reliable sources.  Since then, he’d taken his family into hiding, removing every impression they’d made over the years.  But, somehow, it hadn’t been good enough.

 

Connor was tying the laces of his son’s sneakers; the boy looked at him with half-lidded eyes, practically falling asleep where he stood.  They were going to flee before the attack.  Connor was confident he could face the Fiendish Five – after all, he’d done so once before, when they’d only just rallied under Clockwerk – but not like this.  Not when he needed to look after his family.  And especially not all at once, now that they’d become a cohesive unit.  No, Connor had to stifle every sign of pride and heritage that told him to put those second-rate scumbags in their place.

 

He’d just finished on Sly’s shoes and patted his shoulder to keep him from falling asleep when his wife rushed into the room.  “They’re here!”

 

“What?”  That couldn’t be.  He’d gotten word that they wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow at the earliest.  They couldn’t be here so soon.  But the fox before him was already moving into action, retrieving her gear and weapons from her bags.  They’d been found, and now they were under attack.

 

“Go.  Get us help while I fend them off.”

 

He hesitated.  But when his wife shot a glance to their son, Connor knew that calling in help was their best option.  The raccoon hefted Sly up and looped his own bags on his other arm.  “Come on, kiddo.”  Child and gear in hand, Connor ran quickly down the hall to his study.  He set Sly back down and hurriedly unlocked the door, noting the mixture of curiosity and confusion on his son’s face.  He hadn’t been in his study for a very long while.  Not because he didn’t use it, but because he didn’t dare.  In the study was their only connection to their old lives, a phonetic device that was only supposed to be used in an emergency like this one to make contact with the old Gang.

 

Connor had thought it best to remove the temptation completely by sealing it off; after all these years, he didn’t trust himself to ignore the desire to talk to his friends again.  But now, he needed to reach his old companions.  It was why he’d decided to not leave Paris, in the end.  Not only would it have been the last place the Fiendish Five would’ve expected him to be, but it also meant his friends could arrive quickly enough in case they ever needed aide.

 

Connor told Sly to keep close to him before making his way to the solitary desk in the room.  On it was a large contraption that only looked somewhat like a traditional phone and more like a relic of computer history.  He sat in the chair and powered up the machine.  It only took a moment and then he began dialing the switches along the phone’s base to connect to devices he’d given his gang with a coded radio signal.  Still dialing, he grasped the microphone and spoke into it.

 

“This is Hook-Tail to Carved-Tusk, do you copy?”  He paused, waiting for a reply.  “Carved-Tusk, do you read me?”  Still nothing.  His insides started to sink and twist deep in his gut; there wasn’t a chance in hell Big Jim wouldn’t answer.  Not unless something had happened—no.  McSweeney was an expert; he could take care of himself.  Something must’ve happened to his receiver.  He’d begun taking tougher and tougher jobs, recently.  That was it.  No, he needed to keep trying to reach someone.

 

He switched frequencies.  “Hook-Tail to Mad-Brain; we’re close to point-five, respond.”  No answer.  He cursed and slapped the machine with his palm, making the young raccoon next to him jump.  Connor shot the boy an apologetic look before he heard the front door bang open.  Then, he was in action.  He took Sly by the hand and walked him swiftly over to the wall.  And then he opened the trick door hidden there, revealing a secret closet-space.  Connor ushered his son into the confines before kneeling down to eye-level with him, gripping his shoulder in what he hoped was reassuring - whether for Sly's sake or his own, he couldn't decipher.

 

“I need you to stay here, Sly.  Don’t make any sound and, whatever you do, do not come out.  Do you understand me?”  He waited until the boy nodded, slow and still confused.  He shut the trick door; pausing at the crack one more time, “Stay right here.”  Then, Connor grabbed his bags and began rooting around in them as the noise at the front of the house increased.  After he’d retrieved his cane and a few other utensils, he returned to the phone to give it one last desperate try.

 

He pressed his head against the machine and folded his ears back, trying to block out the sound of The Magnolia fighting the Coopers’ greatest enemy.  “Jimmy, p—“, his voice broke trying to get the words out, “—I need you, buddy.”  Then, he heard a shout from the hall and before he knew it he was rushing to his wife’s aide, calling "Maggie—!"  Just before the door of the study blew open with enough force to break its hinges and send Connor onto his back.

 

As he got up, he saw Magnolia’s form lying on the floor in the hall.  In the doorway were five figures.  The most menacing was the mechanical owl in the very back.  It was then Connor knew that this would be his last stand.  But he would do whatever it took to protect his son.

* * *

He resisted looking towards the closet where his son lay hidden away.  Instead, his eyes flickered back to the desk where, just under the top and tucked into the lowered shelf, the corner of the Thievius Raccoonus peeked out.  Five pairs of eyes followed his gaze.  They would go after the book; it was the Cooper family's greatest treasure.  But not Connor's, not anymore.  The book of his ancestors could be recovered.  The life spirited away could not.  If they took the book, so be it.

Connor fought the Fiendish Five with all of his might.  In the beginning, he seemed prepared to win.  But fighting five high-class criminals at once wore him down.  Eventually, the dribbling brute of a mutt grabbed him around the waist, squeezing the breath out of him.  The whole time, that gleaming metallic owl watched on.  Connor struggled; threw one last punch.

The Thievius Raccoonus was ripped asunder shortly after.

**Author's Note:**

> I am honestly so sorry this fic was a mistake it is a danger to the emotional stability of anyone who reads it and I wish I could take it back


End file.
